New Delhi: In a major setback for Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has cold-shouldered his son Pankaj Singh for the upcoming by-polls in Uttar Pradesh as the saffron party announced names of 11 candidates on Tuesday. However, in a surprising move, senior leader Lalji Tandon effectively managed to get a ticket for his son Gopalji Tandon.

Rajnath was reportedly lobbying for his son Pankaj, who is a party’s state unit general secretary, to get a ticket for him from Noida seat but the party decided to field Vimla Batham from here.

On the other hand, Tandon was able to get his son a ticket from the Lucknow East constituency.

It is believed that Rajnath and Lalji don’t see each other eye to eye since the latter was asked to vacate Parliamentary Lucknow seat represented by him in the Lok Sabha, at the last moment to accommodate Rajnath, who was the then BJP president.

Recently, present BJP president Amit Shah had urged senior party leaders not to demand tickets for their sons and daughters in elections, and it is understood that his request was directed at Rajnath.

BJP’s decision to snub Pankaj Singh and give Gopalji Tandon a ticket in the UP bypolls has come as a bolt from the blue for many since Lalji Tandon’s stock in the party had fallen to an all-time low following his acrimonious relations with Rajnath.

Highlights

BJP announces candidates for UP by-polls

Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj fails to get ticket, Lalji Tandon’s son succeeds

Under the leadership of Shah in UP, Lalji had no major say in the state party affairs and there were speculations that he might be made Governor. However, no such surmise could materialize in real.

This move by BJP has become more bamboozling for the political neutrals since Gopalji had lost from the Lucknow West seat in the UP 2012 assembly elections.

On the other hand, Pankaj Singh was looking to contest from either Noida or Lucknow seat but he was disregarded by the BJP. The saffron party has given more importance to the district-level leaders for the looming UP by-polls.

The BJP is still reeling under the results of the Bihar by-polls where the party’s ambitions were glaringly punctured by the grand alliance of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.

The BJP could manage to win only four out of the 10 seats in the Bihar by-polls whereas the grand alliance came out victorious on six seats, marking the start of a new era of politics in the state.

Tuesday was the last day for the candidates to file nominations for the UP bypolls and a clearly-harried BJP was able to decide upon its candidates for the politically crucial state just hours before the deadline for filing of papers came to a close.

Vimal Batham from Noida; Geeta Singh from Charkhari; Hemendra Pal Singh from Binore; Rajeev Gomber from Saharanpur Nagar; Rajpal Chauhan from Thakurdwara; Ram kumar Verma from Nighaasan; Jagdish Vyas from Hamirpur; Santosh Patel from Sirathu; Akshaywar Lal from Sirathu (SC) are the other BJP candidates for the UP by-polls.

The by-polls for 11 assembly seats would be held on September 13, while Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-polls would also be conducted on the same day. Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-polls was necessitated as Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav vacated it.